Calvary Page #10

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LAVELLE:

You not dancing, Milo?

HERLIHY:

I don’t like this music.

LAVELLE:

What music do you like?

HERLIHY:

Dolly Parton.

LAVELLE:

Dolly Parton’s good, yeah.

63

INT. TOILETS - LATER 63

VERONICA is snorting cocaine, while HARTE waits his turn,

singing like The Count from Sesame Street -

HARTE:

“Bones, bones, bones, bones,

bones inside of you!”

LAVELLE enters. Pauses. HARTE and VERONICA turn.

HARTE:

It’s purely medicinal, Father.

VERONICA laughs. LAVELLE betrays no emotion. Exits.

56.

64

INT. LYNCH’S BAR - NIGHT 64

LAVELLE and LEARY are standing at the bar, nursing Diet

Cokes. STANTON seated beside them, bleary-eyed.

*

LEARY:

How was your man, Joyce?

*

LAVELLE:

It’s been a tough day, let’s put

it that way.

LEARY:

How can you ever hope to connect

with someone like that?

*

LAVELLE:

“Nothing human is alien to me.”

Or shouldn’t be, anyways.

LEARY:

I can’t see the point in it myself.

Dead loss.

*

STANTON:

Who are you talking about?

Not Freddie Joyce?

LAVELLE:

I visited him in prison today.

Why?

STANTON:

LAVELLE:

Prisoners deserve spiritual guidance

as much as anyone else. Maybe more

so.

STANTON:

Is that right? So they can find God

and then say God has absolved them

of all their sins and what they did

didn’t really matter anyways ‘cause

now they’re saved?

LAVELLE:

Something like that, yeah.

LEARY:

(to STANTON)

Calm down. You don’t know what

you’re talking about.

*

STANTON looks blankly at LEARY. Then suddenly clamps a

hand over his face and shoves him backwards -*

(CONTINUED)

57.

CONTINUED:

64 64

Sending him flying into the table at which sit JACK and

VERONICA BRENNAN, glasses shattering -BRENNAN

Jesus, lads, mind the drinks, for

Christ’s sake!

HARTE, HERLIHY, ASAMOAH, FIONA and the SURFERS look round.

Then continue on as if nothing has happened.

*

LAVELLE and STANTON look at each other.

STANTON:

He’s had that coming a long time.

You know yourself.

65

INT. LYNCH’S BAR - LATER 65

LAVELLE is standing next to FIONA, watching HARTE dancing

with the SURFER CHICK.

*

*

FIONA:

Fine-looking man.

LAVELLE:

I’d watch yourself around him.

FIONA:

Oh I gave up the cocaine a long

time ago.

LAVELLE:

You took cocaine?

She shrugs. She smiles. *

FIONA:

How about a dance? Or what did

they call it in your day, a jive?

*

*

*

LAVELLE:

Ah now, I’m not cut out-Ah

come on.

FIONA:

*

She hauls him onto the dance-floor. *

HIGH-ANGLE SHOT -- LAVELLE and FIONA dancing together,

alongside HARTE and the SURFER CHICK, VERONICA and

ASAMOAH, and OTHERS.

*

*

58.

66

INT. LYNCH’S BAR - LATER 66

VERONICA pauses beside LAVELLE at the bar.

VERONICA:

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

LAVELLE:

Say ten Hail Marys and an Our Father.

VERONICA:

Ah, I’ve sinned more than that.

LAVELLE:

Make an ascent of Croagh Patrick,

then, on your knees.

VERONICA:

On my knees, is it? What made you

say that?

She looks blankly at him. He finishes his Diet Coke. She

laughs and moves on. LYNCH appears, inside the bar.

LYNCH:

Your church is on fire.

LAVELLE:

Brendan, I’m not in the mood-

LYNCH:

Your church is on fire.

LAVELLE looks up -- LYNCH is gazing straight past him -

LAVELLE looks round -

REVERSE SHOT -- through a large rectangular window, the

church can be seen burning at the top of the hill.

LAVELLE:

Jesus Christ.

67

EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT 67

The burning church. LAVELLE arriving at the scene.

Followed by OTHERS from the bar.

LAVELLE is frozen to the spot for a moment, stunned. The

flames look beautiful in the dark of the night as they

lick up the sides of the wooden structure.

67A

INT. CHURCH - NIGHT 67A

A burning beam collapses. The pews burn. Wooden plinths

around two statues burn. The Stations of the Cross burn.

59.

67B

EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT 67B

JACK BRENNAN runs up to LAVELLE -BRENNAN

I’ve called the fire brigade,

Father. For all the good it’ll do.

He stares at the fire, his mouth open, enthralled.

HARTE lights a cigarette.

HARTE:

They won’t get here in time.

LEARY looks on, a hand to his head in shock. *

LAVELLE circles the church, realising there is nothing to

be done, the entire building is afire.

LAVELLE:

Why didn’t anybody see?

FIONA finds him, pulls at his sleeve -FIONA

Come away, Daddy.

LAVELLE:

Why didn’t anybody see?

MILO HERLIHY laughs childishly, a pint of Guinness still

in his hand.

VERONICA BRENNAN and SIMON ASAMOAH glance at each other.

VERONICA:

You’ll probably get the blame

for this.

They laugh. Turn away from the scene.

67C

INT. LYNCH’S BAR - NIGHT 67C

*

STANTON and LYNCH look on dispassionately.

LYNCH:

Professional job. I’ll say that

for them.

STANTON:

Any fool can start a fire, for

f***’s sake.

60.

67D

EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT 67D

HIGH-ANGLE SHOT -- LAVELLE looking on impotently as the

timbers in the church start to give way.

MATCH CUT TO:

68

EXT. CHURCH - DAWN 68

TITLE -- “Thursday”.

HIGH-ANGLE SHOT -- LAVELLE looking on at the blackened

embers. FIONA, STANTON and LEARY nearby. *

LAVELLE:

So now we’re being burnt out.

LEARY:

Who’d do a thing like this?

*

LAVELLE:

Somebody with a grudge against the

Church, obviously.

STANTON:

Sure that could be half the country.

LEARY:

Burning the place down, though?

*

LAVELLE:

People are angry. They’ve a lot to

be angry about.

STANTON:

Unless there’s a personal angle.

LAVELLE glances at him. FIONA noticing the look.

FIONA:

How d’you mean?

STANTON:

Nobody with a grudge against you,

Father, no?

LEARY:

Why would anyone have a grudge

against us?

*

*

STANTON shrugs. Toes the embers with his shoe.

STANTON:

Maybe this is the future, hah?

Maybe it’ll all be ruins one day.

Maybe one day kids will say to their

parents in amazement, They used to

believe in what? An auld lad up in

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

61.

68 CONTINUED:
68

the sky? And if we’re good we’ll go

to Heaven? And if we’re bad we’ll

go to Hell?

STANTON (CONT'D)

LAVELLE:

Y’know for a policeman you seem to

know very little about human nature.

STANTON:

Maybe you’re right. Sure you’d know

more than me. Don’t touch anything,

now, I’ll have to get the forensic

boys down, the supercilious pricks.

He exits. LAVELLE, LEARY and FIONA stand in silence for a

moment.

*

LEARY:

What do we do now?

*

LAVELLE:

We’ll have to rebuild it, I suppose.

FIONA:

Maybe use bricks next time, might be

a good idea.

She looks at LAVELLE. He smiles.

LEARY:

Sure that’ll take ages.

*

LAVELLE:

Is there somewhere you have to be?

69

EXT. SLIGO CATHEDRAL (GARDEN) - DAY 69

BISHOP MONTGOMERY is on his cellphone, strolling along a

path, beautiful flowers arrayed on every side -MONTGOMERY

--Inspector Stanton’s handling all

that, as far as I’m aware, you’ll

have to speak to him...It looks

like arson, yes...Young lads losing

the head, I suppose, sure isn’t that

always the way?...No, we haven’t had

any trouble before now...Thank you.

Goodbye.

*

*

*

*

He flips shut the cellphone and pauses in front of a large

rosebush.

MONTGOMERY:

You’ll have the press and TV people

round at some point. *

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